Knitted garment



Jan. 14, 1969 J, LANDAU 3,421,513

KNITTED GARMENT Filed Nov. 28, 1966 Sheet 4 of 3' 9 H. 9am

INVENT OR J. H. LANDAU KNITTED GARMENT Jan. 14, 1969 Sheet 2 of5 Filed Nov. 28, 1966 INVENTOR Jan. 14, 1969 J. \H. LANDAU 3,421,513

KN ITTED GARMENT Filed Nov. 28, 1966 Sheet 3 of 5 CINV OR CMM. )YZN JLLLY.

United States Patent 8 Claims This invention relates to knitted garments, and more particularly to a method of making knitted garments such as are customarily worn on the human torso. The method disclosed in this application and the garments capable of being manufactured thereby are especially adaptable as ladies bathing suits, brassieres, knitted vests, slips, lingerie, and other forms of undergarments, and outer garments such as sweaters, dresses, etc.

One of the features of this invention is that it permits the fabrication of full-fashioned knitted garments which are shaped to closely conform to the configuration of the female torso, without the use of unsightly seams.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description thereof, and to the drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a length of tubular knit material from which the front panel of a knitted bathing suit can be formed;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a length of tubular knit ma terial which can be used to form the back panel of a bathing suit;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the panel formed from the material of FIG. 1 after it has been split, opened up, and turned over on the reverse side;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the panel formed from the material shown in FIG. 3, after it has been split, opened up and turned over on the reverse side;

FIG. 7 is a side view of a portion of the blank shown in FIG. 5, as viewed from the right-hand side;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a bathing suit formed by the joining of the panels shown in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the same;

FIG. 10 is a front perspective view of the same;

FIG. 11 is a front perspective view of a brassiere-type garment formed in accordance with the present invention; and,

FIG. 12 is a front perspective view of a girdle-type of garment formed in accordance with the present invention.

In describing the fabrication of garments in accordance with the broad concept of this invention, the method of making a ladies swimsuit, as shown in FIGS. 8 through 10, will first be described; it being understood that this will be only exemplary of a method which can be used for making many other knitted garments.

As a preliminary step, two tubular lengths of material are knitted, one of which, indicated generally by the numeral 15, will become the front panel of a swimsuit, the other of which, indicated generally by the numeral 16, will become the back panel.

The tubular lengths of material are preferably knitted on a conventional V-bed fiat knitting machine with two adjacent rows of latch needles which are capable of being individually shifted into and out of operating position. Beginning at the lower margin 17, a predetermined number of needles are put in operation in each row of the machine and a certain number of courses are knitted in succession using the same number of needles in each course to produce a tube having straight margins extending to the point 18. However, during this operation and, in fact, during the knitting of the entire length of the material, one or more needles in the center of one of the two rows may be left out of operation to provide a longitudinally extending indication of the center line 19 of the material. However, this is not essential to the successful carrying out of the invention, but is a convenient method of providing a center line for later splitting of the material.

Beginning at the line 18 and extending until the course indica ed at 20 is reached, a gradual narrowing of the fabric is performed by shifting one or more of the yarns at each end of both rows of needles inwardly and removing the endrnost needle at each end of both rows out of operation. Depending upon the amount of taper that is to be given to the fabric, the removal of needles will take place in successive steps. That is to say, a set of needles will be removed and several courses will be knitted on the remaining needles before another reduction in the number of needles takes place.

Beginning at the course indicated at 20, a relatively short length of the tube will be knitted on the same number of needles until the course indicated at 21 is reached to again provide a section of the tube having straight margins, but of somewhat less width than the portion knitted first at the beginning of the lower margin 17.

After the course 21 has been knitted, a needle at each end of both rows will be added and one or more courses may be knitted with this additional number of needles; after which, an additional pair of needles at each end of the row will be added and successive course or courses will be knitted. This progressive increase in the number of wales produced will be continued until the course indicated at 22 is reached. Since the portion of the garment knitted between the courses 21 and 22 eventually forms the lower portion of the breast cup, the'rate of increase will be greater than the rate of decrease between the courses 18 and 20, which latter section will eventually cover the thighs.

The upper portion of the breast cups starts with the course indicated at 22, from which point, pairs of needles at each end of the rows are progressively removed at a relatively rapid rate until the course indicated at 23 is reached. From this course, another short section, terminating at the upper margin 24 using the same number of needles to provide another section having straightmargins.

Before further operations on the length of material 15 is described ,the procedure for knitting the tubular piece 16 will be dealt with. In this case, also, it is preferable to use a V-bed flat machine having two adjacent rows of latch-type needles. Beginning with the lower margin 25, a series of courses are knitted with the same number of needles up to the course indicated by numeral 26 to provide a length having straight margins. As with the case of the material 15, a single needle at the center of one of the rows is left out of operation to provide a center line indication 27 extending longitudinally of the goods.

From the course 26 up to a point indicated by the course 28, needles are again progressively dropped out of operation on the machine to gradually decrease the width of the tube, this decrease being intended to conform to the proportions of the buttocks of the wearer.

Following the course 28 and extending up to the upper margin 29, the material is knit with the same number of needles to provide an upper section having straight margins.

After knitting, each of the tubular lengths of material 15 and 16 are severed longitudinally along the respective lines 19 and 27 so that when they are opened up and spread out fiat, they will resemble the pieces of material shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 when turned over on their 0pposite sides. In FIG. 5, it will be noted that the two longitudinally extending margins A and B, created by cutting the material along the line 19, are now disposed at opposite sides of the material and that the undulatory margins C and D, which originally defined the edges of the tubular'material, are now displaced inwardly a distance approximately midway between the center line of the front panel thus formed, and the respective side margins A and B. Similarly, it will be noted that the longitudinal margins A and B formed by slitting the tubular material 16 along the line 27 have become the side margins of the back panel 1 6, as shown in FIG. 6. The irregularly extending sides C and D' of the tubular material in FIG. 3 have now been displaced inwardly when the back panel is opened up in FIG. 6, again a distance approximately mid-way between the vertical center line of the panel and the respective side margins A and B.

To finish the garment, the bottom of the front panel is doubled back on itself along the horizontal dotted line 3030 and sewed together a short distance above that line along the dotted line 3131, as shown in FIG. 8, to provide a short skirt portion 32 if desired. Other models or styles may be made with or without skirt effects. The lower corners of the panel may be cut out along the curved dotted lines 33-33 and 34-34 to provide a front crotch portion 35. The upper end of the front panel may also be cut out along the dotted lines 36, 37, 38 and 39 to provide an attractive neck line and openings for the arms.

Prior to finishing the garment, the rear panel may be cut out along the dotted lines 4040 and 4141 to provide a rear crotch portion 42. In addition, the upper portion of the back panel may be cut out along the curved dotted line 42-42 to provide a low back. The front and back panels may now be sewed together along their side margins; the margin A of the front panel being joined with the margin B of the back panel; while margin B of the front panel is joined with the margin A of the back panel. The depending ends of the crotch portions 35 and 42 are joined together at the bottom of the garment, while the upper margins of the garment may be finished off with a decorative edging 43 which can be looped upwardly at the sides to form shoulder straps.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that if, instead of a low back, a high-backed garment such as a sweater is to be made, this can be accomplished. The material at the top of the back panel enclosed within the dotted line #242 need not be cut out when the front and back panels are joined together along their side seams. It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that the length of the material knitted for the front and back panels can be such that they may be joined together at the upper ends to form the sleeve opening and that sleeves, either knitted or otherwise, could be joined to the basic garment formed from the front and back panels to create a sweater or pullover.

In FIG. 11, there is shown a brassiere made in accordance with the teachings of this invention. In the form shown, it is only necessary to knit the upper portion of the tubular length of material shown in FIG. 1. In this case, the knitting would be commenced at approximately the course indicated at 21, or slightly below. The same procedure of adding needles to increase the number of wales in successive courses would be followed, as previously described to develop the lower half of the breast cups with subsequent progressive decreasing of the wales to develop the upper half of the cups, ending the knitting approximately at the course indicated at 23, or slightly above.

After the short length of tubular material thus knitted was split along its back center line, as previously described in connection with the swimsuit, the resultant product when opened up would be the front half panel indicated at 45 in FIG. 11. The completed brassiere could then be formed by the addition of the adjustable back strap 46 being attached to the front panel at the seams 47, and

4 the addition of the shoulder straps 48 joined to the upper margin of the front panel at the seams 49, and being sewed to the back strap at the seams 50.

The knitting of a girdle-type garment such as is shown in FIG. 12, would require the use of both front and back panels, but only a portion of the tubular materials 15 and 16 would be required. In the case of the front panel, the knitting would be begun approximately at the course indicated at 18 in FIG. 1 with a progressive reduction of the number of needles, as previously explained, until approximately the course indicated at 20 is reached. The resultant product when split down the center line and opened up would product the front half panel, indicated by numeral 51.

To produce the rear portion of the garment, the knitting of the tubularelement would be approximately begun at the course indicated at 26 in FIG. 3 and knitting would be continued with a progressive decrease in the number of needles up to approximately the course indicated at numeral 28. When this tubular length of material is split, the resulting product when opened out would be the back half panel indicated by numeral 52. The front half panel 51 and the back half panel 52 would then be joined along 7 their side margins as indicated by the seams 53, only one of which can be seen in FIG. 12.

The same technique can be used by starting the knitting at the top, FIG. 1, and by adding and eliminating needles after proper courses. The same body can be formed by the reversing of the sequence in knitting. This applies to the back panel, FIG. 3, as well.

Different cup shapes and cup sizes may be obtained by increased numbers of wales or modified frequencies of narrowing and widenings by addition and elimination of needles and frequencies of courses between these additions and eliminations.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a novel method of forming knitted garments capable of close configuration with the contours of the human body, without the necessity of using seams located in unsightly positions. It will also be understood that while several variations in the type of garments have been described, many variations of these basic types may be developed by those skilled in the art which would come within the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. A knitted garment conforming to the contours of the human female form comprising two pieces of knitted material having horizontal courses and joined to each other along vertical seams disposed one at each side of the body only, the total number of wales in each course corresponding generally to the horizontal linear measurement of that portion of the female form to provide fullness at six horizontally and vertically spaced areas of the garment, the wales in each piece of material being in vertical alignment throughout all of the courses, each said area being arranged half way between the vertical center line of the respective piece of material and a vertical side seam, and each said area of fullness being symmetrical with respect to a vertical line through the center of the respective area.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein the difference between the number of wales in any two adjacent courses varies only by a multiple of two,

3. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein the vertical length of the material at the back of the garment is less than that of the material at the front to provide a backless garment.

4. A girdle conforming to the contours of the human form comprising two pieces of knitted material having horizontal courses and joined to each other along vertical seams disposed one at each side of the body, the total number of wales in each course corresponding generally to the horizontal linear measurement of that portion of the human form to provide fullness at two horizontally spaced areas of one of said pieces of material, each said area spaced substantially away from the vertical center line of the respective piece of material and from a respective side seam, and each said area being symmetrical with respect to a vertical line through the center of the respective area.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4 wherein both of said pieces of knitted material are provided with areas of fullness spaced away from the vertical center line and from the side seams.

6. The invention as defined in claim 4, wherein the difierence between the number of wales in any two adjacent courses varies only by a multiple of two.

7. A brassiere comprising a knitted front panel, having vertical side margins disposed at the sides of a wearer, and means for securing the panel in place on a wearer, said panel comprising a single piece of horizontally knitted courses, the total number of wales in each course corresponding generally to the horizontal linear measurement of the adjacent portion of the torso of a wearer to provide two horizntally spaced areas of fullness, each said area being spaced between the vertical center line of the panel and no more than an equal distance from a respective margin of the panel, and each said area of fullness being symmetricl with respect to a vertical line through the center thereof.

8. The invention as defined in 7, wherein the diiference between the number of Wales in any two adjacent courses varies only by a multiple of two.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,965,860 7/ 1934 Rutledge 128-517 2,792,698 5/ 1957 Hampp 66177 3,117,433 1/1964 Gordon et al 66176 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

1. A KNITTED GARMENT CONFORMING TO THE CONTOURS OF THE HUMAN FEMALE FORM COMPRISING TWO PIECES OF KNITTED MATERIAL HAVING HORIZONTAL COURSES AND JOINED TO EACH OTHER ALONG VERTICAL SEAMS DISPOSED ONE AT EACH SIDE OF THE BODY ONLY, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF WALES IN EACH COURSE CORRESPONDING GENERALLY TO THE HORIZONTAL LINEAR MEASUREMENT OF THAT PORTION OF THE FEMALE FORM TO PROVIDE FULLNESS AT SIX HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALL SPACED AREAS OF THE GARMENT, THE WALES IN EACH PIECE OF MATERIAL BEING IN VER- 